Marriage Amendment

Virginia Baptists have mixed views about the national Southern Baptist Convention's call for wives to submit to their husbands.

Virginia and Texas are the only states with two Southern Baptist groups - one moderate and one conservative.

The moderate-leaning Baptist General Association of Virginia is holding its annual meeting in Richmond this week, but is not expected to address the controversial marriage amendment.

The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, which broke away from the moderate state group in 1996, adopted a resolution last year supporting the marriage amendment.

"We put the emphasis on the husband's responsibility to love his wife as Christ loved the church," said the Rev. Doyle Chauncey, executive director of the conservative group. "And then the wife responds submissively based on the husband's initiative."